Krita News

Hey there, Krita community.

Since we brought Krita to Steam for Linux last month, a number of our Linux users have unfortunately been experiencing a big bad bug that was totally preventing Krita from launching correctly on various system. I'm really sorry about that, because I can understand how frustrating it can be to spend your hard-earned money in order to support an application like Krita, only for it to just not work.

Well, the good news is that the issue seems to be fixed and, after downloading the latest update, I expect that Krita will now work correctly for those who were having problems before. All of our users on Linux and Windows alike should now have no problems running the latest and greatest Krita through Steam.

I also want to thank everybody in the Krita Steam Community thread who, despite having major issues with a program that they paid to support, went above and beyond by reporting the problem, sharing various information, and providing ideas for how to solve it. An extra special shout-out to aukkras/noodly, who helped find a solution! This type of community cooperation is what both Krita and Linux are all about, and it never ceases to amaze me. 🐧

Thanks again everybody for your patience and support!
Time to draw, paint and animate!
- Emmet

P.S. Happy Halloween!

Hey! Today we've released another set of bugfixes for Krita. I could count them all but it's a rainy Thursday here in Portland so I'll just stick with dozens. Some big, some small, but all of them adding up to a Krita that's simply better.

Click here to read the full patch notes for Krita 4.2.7!

Also, did you know that Krita has a Youtube channel? The channel's content is being made by the great Ramon Miranda, with an emphasis on teaching us how to use Krita effectively to do, let's face it, what we all want to do the most, improve our art! He's got tips, tricks and fundamentals, and he's also been known to share some of his truly excellent custom brushes from time to time. It's pretty great, so please, check it out!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Finally, I know that some of our new Linux users are having issues getting Krita to run at all, I'm looking into the problem. We've tested on a few distros (Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Linux Mint 19.1, Manjaro) without issue, but some users are definitely having problems on other/older distros. I've also reached out to Steam to see if they can help figure out what's going wrong here.

We have a Steam Community discussion here, where I'll be updating as I get more information. If you're affected by this issue, please subscribe to this thread.

There is a workaround: if you navigate to the Krita AppImage executable in your steamapps/krita/ directory you'll find that double clicking on it probably works fine. You can still use Steam to pull updates automatically, of course, and you may even be able to add that Krita appimage as an "external" application to launch through Steam. It's hacky and weird, I know, but it's an option.

Anyway I don't expect this latest bugfix version to fix this issue, as it likely has to do with runtime dependencies and not Krita's code. So I don't have any good news on this front just yet, sadly, and I'm sorry that this launch isn't as smooth as we would have all liked it to be.

Linux users, we care about this platform, we want give you guys a good experience too, and I want to reaffirm how much we value your support so far. Please bear with me as we figure out how to solve this issue.

Hey, everybody. I'm back again with some more news.


First thing's first, we've put out yet another update, Krita 4.2.6.

We've implemented a workaround for a crash affecting users of Ryzen 3000 series CPUs, a couple of new minor features, as well as boatload of bug fixes and stability improvements.

You can read more about what's changed right here in the patch notes.


Next up, you may have heard that there are some big changes coming to Steam's library view. We've done our homework on this end and Krita is ready for the new library update. So, in a couple of weeks you'll find that Krita shows up in your Steam library with a brand new box-art style icon, among other things.


Last but not least, I have some good news for Linux fans who want another way to support Krita's development. By popular demand, and because we all love free and open source software, Krita for Linux has finally arrived on Steam!

Many of us who follow Krita closely already know that Krita is proud to be (say it with me) free, open source and community-driven software. We are part of a larger free software organization called KDE and, although Krita exists on all platforms, we are also part of the greater free software ecosystem. Without a doubt, there are very few projects as central to that ecosystem as the Linux kernel as well as the GNU project that pioneered the free and open development model that Krita is based on. Every Krita contributor is a member of free software community and many of our developers are both Linux users and passionate fans, And, in my view, every Krita user is a member, not only of the Krita community, but the greater free software community.

Now, there are plenty of convenient ways to get Krita on Linux, whether it's our easy-to-use AppImages from krita.org, from your distribution's package manager, or by building the program from source. It's easy to get the latest and greatest Krita, so why bother with Steam?

Simply put, buying Krita on Steam is just another way of directly supporting development. Our community is the lifeblood of the project and none of this would be possible without generous contributions from users like you. Something never comes from nothing, even free and open software like Krita, and our progress is a function of your support. Whether you contribute code or documentation, participate in our yearly fundraiser, join our recurring development fund, or simply pick up Krita on Steam, this development model relies on you!

Linux is part of our roots, and we're passionate about Linux as a platform for everybody--from professionals, to students, to everyday people. Whether you're a programmer, a musician, a gamer, or an artist, Linux belongs to all of us. We love Linux, and we're happy to support Linux as a first-class platform on Steam.

On behalf of the whole Krita team, thanks again for your support!
- Emmet

Many of us are here at the home of Krita, in a cute little town called Deventer in the Netherlands, for the 2019 Krita Sprint! And to celebrate we've decided to throw an impromptu week-long sale.

The Krita Sprint is a yearly event where artist, programmers, and everything in between meet up to discuss and work on every aspect of Krita. Contributors fly in from all over the world and this time we have people from various parts of Europe, the United States, Russia, India, China and Mexico--many visitors being volunteers and members of our amazing global community.

Admittedly it's pretty chaotic, and as I type this I can hear 3 different conversations happening in different corners of this big cellar where our gear is set up. But it's a celebration of Krita, and a place where technology and art collide. It's awesome!

This is how Krita is made and it is truly what it means to have a development process that is free, open, and community-driven: Krita is a product of our community!

Following our recent pattern of biweekly bugfix patches, we're back again with Krita 4.2.4!

This time we're pushing a big improvement to our save system, shortcut input system, and even a surprise feature--a modern luminosity blending mode for creating stunning highlights, lighting, and other neat effects.

Check out the complete patch notes for a comprehensive list of fixes and improvements. And while there shouldn't be any major issues, if you do have problems with touch controls, please read this:

Originally posted by Maintainer

Known Issue: If touch zoom and rotation doesn’t work anymore, please remove your local default.inputrc file. Go to Settings/Manage Resources and press the Open Resource Folder button. Enter the input folder and remove all files in that folder.

Once again, to develop and fix things with this speed and intensity would simply not be possible without our core developers, community of volunteers, and, of course, generous support from users like you. As a free, open and community-driven project, we are only as strong as the people who support us and, luckily, we have a great community.

Thanks again on behalf of the whole Krita team,
- Emmet

Reminder: Krita's optional "rollback" branch is still pointing to the last major version, Krita 4.1.7. You shouldn't have any issues or regressions with this new update, but if you do, please remember that you can opt-in to the rollback branch if necessary. This feature is accessible through Krita's "properties" menu within Steam.